Constancy and plasticity of Perception

Snehlata Jaswal
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Constancy of Perception
A unique quality of human perception is constancy the fact that
we perceive objects, events, and patterns, in the same way,
despite small changes. In contrast, computers are extremely
bad at recognizing objects and patterns that differ in small
ways.
Usually, constancy is an adaptive mechanism. However, at times
it can create problems as well. One of the major reasons that
we experience illusions is constancy of perception.
Perceptual constancy is shown for all kinds of percepts: form,
depth, movement, size, colour, etc.
Perhaps it is best illustrated and studied in percepts which are
relatively more changeable, or can acquire many values; such
as size, colour, and brightness.
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Constancy of size
The size of an object is experienced either through touch
or through vision.
Touch is a very rudimentary way of assessing size, for we
are limited by our bodies.
In vision, size is assessed through the image on the
retina. Yet, despite continuous changes in the size of the
retinal images, we do not perceive objects as changing
in size. Mostly we perceive them to be the same size.
In other words, size constancy implies perceiving objects
according to assumed or familiar size, not according to
retinal size.
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Holway and Boring (1941)

Studied two crucial factors affecting size constancy:
Distance
Other referents

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Holway and Boring (1941)

Observer sat at the intersection of two corridors, and equated
the diameter of a bright disk in one corridor to the diameter
of a standard disk in the second corridor.
4 experimental conditions:
Binocular vision
Monocular vision
Monocular through a pinhole in paper (artificial pupil)
Monocular through a pinhole and tunnel (long black tube)
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Holway and Boring (1941)

Results:

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Gibsons theory about size constancy

Gibson (1950) held that perceived-size constancy can be
explained by the unvarying size ratio of objects in a scene. E.g., if
we see a man standing next to a house, his height bears a definite
size relation to the height of the house. That relation will not
change, no matter from how far away we view the man.
The major reason for rejecting the stimulus-relation explanation is
that constancy can be achieved in instances where stimulus
relations are not applicable. E.g., in a dark room with only a single
luminous object visible, constancy will hold as long as distance
information is available, such as is provided at near distances by,
accommodation, convergence, and binocular disparity. Yet if the
subject is required to view the object with one eye through a small
aperture, thus eliminating cues to distance, constancy fails. Then,
the objects size appears indeterminate and two such objects are
matched on the basis of visual HUL
angle
alone (Rock, 1984).
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Colour constancy
Is there a special colour center in the brain? Cerebral
achromatopsia loss of colour vision due to damage to the
cortex, while perception of forms is intact, supports this
idea
However, a lot of research directly studying the brain has
found no such area and suggests that colour processing is
distributed all over the brain
Hence colour processing is probably a computational problem
Yet computers are extremely bad at recognizing objects and
patterns of different colours

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Colour constancy
Our perception of the colour
of objects remains virtually
the same despite changes in
the illumination falling on
them.
Essentially colour perception
depends on the surround.
Colour constancy works best
when an object is surrounded
by objects of many different
colours (Land, 1983, 1986)
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Memory colour

Past knowledge affects colour perception

First emphasized by Hering

Each one of us associates a different colour with red

depending on our past experience.

Familiar objects are judged to have richer, more

saturated colours (Jin and Shevell, 1996)

Contributes to colour constancy

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Light from above heuristic

Kleffner and Ramachandran (1992) hold that observers
of a scene assume that illumination is always from the
above, in fact from the above left (about 26 degrees).
This strong assumption happens because most light in
our environment comes from above.
It also helps us to maintain colour constancy and ignore
shadows

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Shadows

Shadows are automatically cancelled by our visual system

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Constancy of brightness

In fact, perceptual constancy of achromatic colours

contributes a lot to colour constancy.
Perception of brightness is one of the simplest aspects of
vision to study

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Characteristics of Light
Light as a wave has three pairs of attributes:
(1) wavelengths and hue
(2) purity and saturation
(3) amplitude/intensity and brightness

Amplitude, the height of the light wave, is related to the

brightness of a visual stimulus. Light waves that have
greater amplitude are perceived as brighter.
Amplitude, in turn, is related to the intensity of light, the
amount of radiant energy contained in the light source.

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Light and objects

Objects may be classified as luminous and illuminated. Luminous
objects are themselves the source of light such as the sun, the
stars, an incandescent bulb, etc. the amount of light energy they
give off is known as radiance. Most objects, however only reflect
light, and are therefore said to be illuminated.
So, the amount of incident light falling on an object or surface is
called illuminance (irradiance). Further, the intensity of light
reflected from an illuminated surface is called luminance
(reflectance). E.g. the amount of light emanating from the sun or
the bulb in the room is radiance, the amount of light falling on this
page is illuminance, and the amount of light reflected from the
page is luminance.
All these contribute to the psychological experience of
brightness.
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What if the illumination is different?

Estimate the brightness (whiteness?) of a patch
under different amounts of light

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Lightness constancy
Result:
Lightness unaffected by illumination
lightness constancy
Visual system computes lightness as a ratio
= intensity of light from the patch
intensity of light from background

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Brightness and Lightness

Brightness is the subjective estimate of intensity of
light from a light source or from a reflecting surface
One important aspect of brightness is lightness.
Lightness is the subjective estimate of the
whiteness of a surface.
Changes in the brightness of adjacent areas in the
visual field is an important factor in the formation of
contours and is thus also the basis of perception of
form and image formation.

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Simultaneous brightness contrast

Two grey squares of equal intensity

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Simultaneous brightness contrast

Difference in perceived brightness due to the surround

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Simultaneous brightness contrast

Pattern increases difference?

Remember: Color constancy works best when an object is surrounded by

objects of many different colours ( Land, 1983, 1986)

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Mach band illusion

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Cornsweet illusion

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Cornsweet illusion gone?

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Plasticity of Perception
Perceptual constancy prevails in our day to day lives.
Nevertheless, over a period of time, experience can modify
perceptual processing this is called plasticity of perception.
Nativists vs. empiricists debate
Studies on depth perception
Critical periods / Sensitive period
Visual deprivation during critical periods for monkeys results in
permanent problems in visual form perception (Reisen 1966)
Congenitally blind people need special training in form
perception after their sight is restored (Held et al., 2011).
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Plasticity of neurons
Plasticity is manifested not only at the behavioural level, but
also at the neural level.
Brain neurons are the only cells in the animal body which do
not reproduce themselves. However, they do grow new
connections.
Neuro-plasticity occurs in the brain:
1 At the beginning of life: When the immature brain organizes
itself.
2 In case of brain injury: To compensate for lost functions or
maximize remaining functions.
3 Through adulthood: Whenever something new is learned
and memorized
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Thank you

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